Half of recent college grads out of work or underemployed

While the U.S. Congress argues over how to pay for lower interest rates on future student loans, more than half of recent college graduates struggle to find jobs to help pay back their debt.

About 1.5 million, or 53.6 percent, of students graduating with bachelor’s degree holders under the age of 25 last year were jobless or underemployed, according to an analysis of 2011 Census Bureau data by Northeastern University researchers. The study was also supplemented with research from a Drexel University economist and the Economic Policy Institute, a Washington think tank.

That study does not including the newest college graduates coming out of universities this month. Many in Florida have loans to pay off. Nationwide, students who have student loans owe an average $25,000. The Congressional proposal to lower interest rates to 3.4 percent instead of the July 1 scheduled rise to 6.8 percent does not affect those who already have loans.